Thinking further about it, it's an interesting study in the "cascade" theory of maritime accidents.
If Lewis Foley had not been a traitor, he would not have had the three children on board Talisman at all.
Furthermore, if he'd not left in a hurry because panicked he'd have refuelled at the mooring and done his navigation and passage-planning before leaving the mooring buoy.
If he'd been sailing legitimately rather than to a rendezvous he might have either stayed in port until the fog lifted or put the mainsail up for safety, in case of engine trouble (I don't know what best practice was at the time, but I'd certainly have expected that the sail would have been made ready to go up at short notice, and possibly hoisted particularly if he was sailing single-handed.
Without the children, he wouldn't have had to worry about keeping the cabin locked and would have probably been able to do any navigation which he needed to do at sea much more quickly.
Re: Putting Talisman on the rocks
If Lewis Foley had not been a traitor, he would not have had the three children on board Talisman at all.
Furthermore, if he'd not left in a hurry because panicked he'd have refuelled at the mooring and done his navigation and passage-planning before leaving the mooring buoy.
If he'd been sailing legitimately rather than to a rendezvous he might have either stayed in port until the fog lifted or put the mainsail up for safety, in case of engine trouble (I don't know what best practice was at the time, but I'd certainly have expected that the sail would have been made ready to go up at short notice, and possibly hoisted particularly if he was sailing single-handed.
Without the children, he wouldn't have had to worry about keeping the cabin locked and would have probably been able to do any navigation which he needed to do at sea much more quickly.